The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1887-03-31
THE LAST OF THE BuFFALoEs.
Rumors of a Largo Herd in an Gut OF
the Way Place in DIexico.

tSumOrS OF a Largo fiefu an CuI OF
the Way Place in BIexico.
was told when 1 came here two months
ago that if l wanted to find out what was
trustworthy concerning the determination of
the buffalo, Capt. Jack Bridges was the man
to see. As Bridges was then hunting ia the
Seralers mountains in Mexico took the cars
to Galiego, where, through the courtesy of
r. e. Comfort, superintendent of the Mexi-
can Central Railroad company, was pro-
vided with an inofensive broncho to ride
over to Bridges camp, some thirty eight
miles
Capt Jack, who for years past has been
one of the most distinguished and fearless
hunters i'll the west, was the first man to
make a. contract to provide large number
of buffalo hides The idea suggested itself to
a pelt dealing firm in Leavenworth, Kas.,
who sent for Bridges, telling him to procure
1900 hides at once, they wished to try
them in the English market Bridges signed
the contract, and hiring q lot of "skinners,"
began his destructive warfare against the
bison. In five weeks and four days Lie killed
with his own hand 143 bulfalOes, ard the
hides of these animals constituted the first
shipment of buffalo robes to Europe. While
the contract was very lucrative, owing to the
great abundance of the animals, the slaugh-
ter disgusted Bridges, who was natural born
sportsman, so much that he refused to be In
strumental i'll the future in any wholesale
destruction of good meat. He says that be
has only been sorry but once for what he did,
and that has been always. Since then he has
killed about 5000 head, but only when meat
was required by the different expeditions for
which he was guide. Having shot buffalo
from British Columbia to Texas, and having
lived for the last thirty-five years on the
great game ranges of the west, he is well quail
flied to speak authoritatively on the subject.
''As far as I know" said Bridges when talk
ing on the subject, "and try to keep myself
posted, there are not over 600 buffalo left in
the United States. There are about 200 in
| the Yellowstone park, and these will be the
sole survivors in a year Or two In the pan
handle of Texas there were about 100. These
do not include those on the ranch of Charley
Goodnight, who has lot of them semidomes-
ticated Goodnight'S ranch is near Vernon,
| in Armstrong county. There are about 40
i'll kanzas and the Indian Territory, five or
six in Colorado, ten i'll Montana and five in
Dakota The others are irra little herd in an
out of the way place, which l do not wish
made public"
"This, then, sums up the buffaloes leftp
ayes, though there may be a struggling
pair or two in southern Texas. I am told
bulls were seen south of San Antonio the
other day, and that they were followed up
and one killed. But have been told twice
recently, once by an Apache and the other
time by a Wacoe Indian, that ON the big
plains 500 miles south of here, in a country
but very rarely Travelled, there is very large
herd. will know soon, for am going down
there this spring. But the drought has been
! SO severe i'll Mexico this season that the game
has suffered terribly and has had to travel
many miles for water New York Sun.